The DISTURBING Truth About the United Nations | Hillel Neuer | Behind the Bima #183

[music] Welcome back to Behind the Bea from our studio at Boca Raton Synagogue, Robin Moscow. We've gotten incredible feedback from coming back behind the Beimma. >> Unbelievable. And I think people, you know, we're enjoying being in person. And I think that's rubbing off on our viewers and listenership as well. >> A lot of people reached out. They're happy to see that we are back and we're just getting started. We have such incredible guests. >> You know what? We need like you know NBC, they have like studio 3B. We need like a a name to our studio. It can't just be the studio. It's like studio 1A. >> I like that. You know what? Guess what? We could put anyone's name on the [laughter] studio for the right amount of money. It is a dedication that is available at Bocaraton Synagogue. If you'd like to name the studio from which we're going to produce a lot of content, not only behind the bea and host incredible guests, let us know. This is the beginning of our future because last our opening episode back had us in person but then we had Congressman Fine online. Now all of our guests are in person which is really really exciting. I've had great feedback and it's good to be together again. >> You know one of the things you hear from singers is that they feel the energy of the audience like there's you could feel the energy of the people in the room and I think in our in-person interviews you feel that as well. It's just a totally different interview when you're able to sit across from someone look them in the face feel the energy that's coming out of them. >> You know it's it's funny it's not only true about our podcast and you'll see it today with Helen Neoer. we got to sit with him in this conversation. Um, you when people have a choice between listening to a shir online or going in person, it's a totally different story. You say, "Well, what's the difference? I hear the same words and it's all going into my ear in the same way." But, like you said, when you're in a room and you're drawing energy, you're exchanging energy, you're making eye contact, you're feeling it around you. It's entirely a different experience. >> All right. So, let's go behind the beam on this. This is unscripted, by the way. First of all, >> does that frustrate you? Right. You obviously give a lot of inerson sharim. You post them online. and you post them on YouTube and your online viewership most of the time far surmounts who's in person. Does it frustrate you that some people choose to listen online and you said if you could come in person and feel what it's like to be in that room with the Amunir when I'm telling that story you'd get so much more out of it. >> Yeah, definitely. The beauty of technology and the gift of what we started during Corona was the ability to reach people who can't be in person and that is an amazing gift from Hashem is that due to technology you can stream, you could record, you could post all across platforms, speak and listen. This is a time of year, it's fascinating actually. I mentioned this in the Amunashir recently that Spotify in December, I don't know why they don't wait till the end of December. It's really bizarre. It's like in the first week of December, they give you your year rap and they tell you um who you listen to the most. It could be music or it could be podcasts. And they tell you how many minutes total you listened and they tell you what percent listener you are. Are you in the person's top 1%, 5%, 50%. So I must have gotten dozens of people who took screenshots and sent me which I'm so touched and flattered by where they are in living with Amuna or para podcast and it's been fascinating because you see you know somebody listened maybe they listen to one clip so they send me their top 10 and it's all kinds of other podcasts and you know living with amuna is in there and means the world to me some have sent me um I listen look rabbi I listen to para and sitter snippets and ammuna and and it's interspersed with other ones so then you're curious well that person who likes learning with me what else do they like listening to? And it's been very fascinating to see. One of which my kids couldn't believe because I I didn't recognize it, but they pointed out that one person loved to listen to the Shirum and also something called I won't say what it's called. I'll get in big trouble, [laughter] but like a run podcast. So anyway, it's fascinating. So you have, you know, somebody emailed me, I made a joke in the Amuna that basically there's a prize if you're in the top 1% listener of Amuna, like you know, you get what you want. So some somebody said, "I'm actually coming into Florida." They sent me the screenshot. They're in the top 0.5% of listeners. >> So I said, "Okay, no problem. We'll meet." Absolutely. That you're top.5% of listeners of living with the Muna. Anyway, so so streaming lets you reach people wherever they are and you connect and is deeply deeply meaningful to me. But obviously, you know, the primary part of what we do is to serve our community and it's the people and it's the families and it's the local that we love and we live with and we want to connect to. So yeah, I'd love if they came in person. And again, sometimes somebody's ill or infirm or unable to be here. Great. You could watch online. So I started saying, this was advice someone gave me. I'm grateful to her. >> She said, "Give 45 minutes of this year and then do live question and answers where you turn the recording off." >> So we started that people and we started that several months ago. And it worked. >> People who had only been listening online now came in person because they didn't want to miss out what's being asked. What are you talking about? And we've had some very good questions. We haven't hit what I thought we would yet, which is sort of some of the controversial, provocative, sensitive. So, we'll get there when we build some more trust. >> At least you're pulling people in with content and meaning. I pull people in with hot dog machines and sauerkraut. But, you know, whatever it takes. By the way, it's where it tripled my shear overnight. So, it's working. You know, different things drag people in. >> Lishma, you know what a challenge is for me though, and this is a fault in me. So, now that I do the 15 minutes of question and answer, I'm like, "Oh, this is some good stuff. We should be recording this." So it's really hard that's the lashma of it's really hard to say I'm doing this and it's okay that and there are certain things is not posted online and the shabas give is not posted online so it's really important to also do things that you're in person for the people there with a rapport creating a relationship becoming a rebby not just a majir and that's what those slots allow you to do also >> now you spoke about showing up in person you showed up somewhere in person that you and I have heard a lot about we've heard a lot about the transformation that was a good transition we've heard a lot about the the transformations in Dubai, the UAE, obviously the Abraham Accords. Um, and you went there, you showed up in person, and I think it blew your mind away in a way that, you know, a shme or IA like until you saw it. Tell us a little bit about your Dubai trip, why being there in person was so important and how it changed your perspective. >> Yeah, you know, you have to be careful because I have a lot to say about this and we want to get to the Hiller conversation, okay, >> which is really why we're here. >> Tease it. Tease it. um our mutual friend Eli Epstein who's really a wonderful person and modest and understated who we know for 35 years has been going to the United Arab Emirates to the UAE doing business but we also know he had relationships and he's been encouraging the Abraham Accords and he really understated and is modest and would probably kill me right now for this but I'm sure he doesn't listen to it so I can say it everywhere we went in Dubai and Abu Dhabi people were like Epstein and from the highest levels and advisers to the ruler himself. It is clear his contribution and role and he deserves tremendous credit for that and I'm grateful for a long time. He's been saying you've got to check it out. Not what so many people go for. I think the 16 flights a day between Dubai and Israel. >> Is that really what it is a day? >> Yeah. >> Wow. >> While the rest while America while the airlines in America discontinued during the war, United the um Emirates airline increased never stopped for one day and increased. And there's a lot of tourism. There's also a lot of business that's going on back and forth and many people go to Abu Dhabi Dubai. You speak to them and I don't blame them because they don't have the access if you don't know Eli Epstein. But they go for the tourism and there are incredible things to see. The whole country is 51 years old from 1971. That's more than 51. Whatever the math is, it is a very young country. Basically, it was a desert. It was sand. They dug and discovered oil and they were like, "Okay, the rest is history. >> The rest is history." Very, very wealthy. originally with oil now transitioned to being very uh very financially successful through investments and and scaling up and partnerships. But the the ruler, the founding ruler and the generations since then, the philosophy was we are creating a country that believes in coexistence, mutual respect, intolerance for hate. It is actually in the laws that there's no free speech there. I I had a conversation with someone that maybe free speech is overrated, right? Because in this country we tolerate and our upcoming guest Ben Shapiro has been heroic in taking on some of the voices who've taken advantage of free speech to spew hatred and he's not calling to cancel them or take away their right to free speech. Um but we've seen the use and abuse of free speech in that country. If you speak hateful that you're gone. They take you right to the airport. You're out. There are incredibly draconian laws intolerance for hate for discrimination for bias for theft. In Dubai and Abu Dhabi, in the UAE, you could leave your wallet. You could take your jewelry and you could put it down on the street and you could leave it and you could come back five hours later, it'll still be sitting there. >> That's perfect for me. >> We we didn't see a policeman while we were there. It's a fascinating fascinating country and and everything's new. Everything's built. Everything's magnificent. Everything is opulent and everything is gorgeous and it has the tallest building in the world. And we did see that. We went to the 150th 154th floor balcony which is like looking down from an airplane. It was incredible. But we didn't go there for the tourism. We met with Emiratis, regular, ordinary, um, of which there are a million and a half in the country and 10 million others. There's only a million and a half citizens and 10 million others who are there to do business, who are there to take advantage of tax benefits of living there, who are there to serve the service industry of those million and a half. The country is so wealthy that if you're an Emirati, if you are among the million and a half, if you're a citizen, you get a free house, healthcare, university, you get your life is it's incredible. It is a beautiful country. It's clean. It is safe. I wore my yama and sisters walked everywhere. Never hesitated, not for one second. Didn't experience one word, one moment of discrimination. Our friends in New York can't say that who are taking the subway. And uh sadly, too many can't say that who don't live there. So overall as I said I could go on and on but the the feeling that we had from the leadership down that we met with is this real commitment to this coexistence and they able to balance um they are staunchly practicing observant Muslims not all it's a very liberal open-minded but of the million and half Amiradis in particular many most are they're very practicing in their dress in their prayer five times a day in their observance we spent a lot of time my my wife we had this amazing guide Huda was who was uh describing her lifestyle and there's a lot of parallels and a lot of overlap certainly significant differences as well but they are staunchly practicing observant Muslims but also open-minded respectful and they believe this is the big magic question out there for everyone >> but they believe that the more radical fundamentalist extremist >> segments of the Muslim Arab world have distorted and perverted their Quran have distorted their religion they'll argue that with anyone in fact one of the people we met with is coming to speak here at BS and we'll have that conversation with him. Hopefully, we'll put it out as a behind the bea episode with Lohan with his his perspective. A >> but do they believe it could be exported? In other words, do they believe that they can proitize the rest of the Muslim world to this coexistence? >> Yeah, I don't know how aggressively they're working on that. They've sort of chosen it for themselves and they are eager and looking for people to live and believe it with them and there are they've had an influence on other countries. um they dislike and condemn Qatar and Turkey as much as we do. And and conversely for Qatar and and and Turkey, the UAE is almost as horrible as Israel because they live that life and they're aligned in that way. Um but they have prosperity. We met with several people who have direct or indirect ties to Saudi Arabia and they say the Saudis, one person who's married to a woman who grew up in in Saudi Arabia and travels there still for business, is an incredibly successful business person, practicing Muslim. He's from the UAE. She's from Saudi. 80% of the Saudis want to join the Abraham Accords. They want the prosperity that comes with it. They want the mutual respect. They they see the life, the peace, the prosperity. They don't want to dilute or compromise an iota of who they are, but they believe and they see in the UAE that prosperity. Now, does the leadership want it as much as the people? What does it mean? Also, you know, Dr. Ali, who's become a friend who's incredible, um spoke to us, hosted us for dinner, spoke to us at length about the Abraham Accords have to not just be signed pieces of paper. They have to be between the people. And that's where there's enormous opportunity for religious Jews to play a role. Um Ali Pale the owner of Mishbah magazine who's been here and who's been on behind the beimma came with us on this trip. One of his major takeaways was the importance he called it for the Karedi world but we could just call it the religious world because one of their representatives somebody who works in their finance uh leadership said you know whenever we talk with Israel we talk about innovation and breakthrough and progress but we don't talk about Israel as the land of Abraham as our biblical roots our biblical um ethical monotheism and life and lifestyle we should celebrate and connect over that too and that's where the religious Jewish community, the observant Torah community can make a lot of connections. So, you know, it's it's not simple to get to and not everyone can afford to go and I don't want to minimize that. Um, and of course, I believe if you're going to ever go anywhere, go to Israel and that definitely you're already in the region. So, go before or after you go. But if you go, don't just go to see the tourist things which are worth seeing. Connect to everyday Amiradis. Develop relationships. Celebrate and elevate what they're doing. We left and we came back to discover right what happened in Australia. And for me it was an immediate test to see online the people I just met who preached one thing were they practicing it. And and before I had even checked before I had even commented they wrote I'm talking they have followers. Dr. Ali has half a million followers. Um LO has 300 400,000 followers. These are people collectively certainly have millions of followers and they are condemning what happened standing with the Jewish community standing with Israel. So I'm very hopeful. I'm not polyianish. I don't think it represents the majority of the Muslim Arab world. It's a small minority hopefully a vocal one. But there's hope in it. And if they can export it hopefully there there's something that we can build. Now, this directly applies to our, you know, impacts our conversation with Illinoiser because so much of what he's combating is lies and falsehood and anti-semitism and animosity towards Jews. And now to go to a place where we have friends, people who support us, you know, that's really where the the fault lines are going to be. >> 100%. And Hill is a hero. He's selflessly living in a place that not so necessarily comfortable or convenient, although I'm sure it's wonderful Geneva, but he could be elsewhere. He's doing that for one reason, and that's fighting on the front lines of the Jewish people. And it's interesting because the ceasefire in Israel is so far holding. Um but his battle in war is ongoing and he's fighting it valiantly. We couldn't ask for a more articulate spokesperson who's fighting on the front lines with the UN and and he was a great conversation. >> All right. So let's uh let's hear it. We are excited to welcome on Hill Neuer. We're so excited and happy to be joined by Helenora to be able to go behind the beimma on UN watch such a critically important organization. Probably every year for the last 20 years that you've been leading this organization you said this is the most important time for UN watch. It always feels like the most important time because the work is never done. Thank you for joining us. Thank you for allowing us to go behind the bea together. >> Thank you for having me. Great to be here at BRS. >> It's it's a real privilege. So um hello. Is there anything hopeful? Let's start with any good news. Is there any positive news? Any good news? Are there any any wins, any successes, any progress that you're making in your work? Any hope for the UN? >> Well, interesting time. We recently had a UN resolution that is being condemned by Hamas and being condemned by anti-semmites. It's a UN resolution that endorses President Trump as the head of a board of peace, which is in charge of Gaza. There's a lot of problems there. We don't know yet what's going to happen in Gaza. We don't know which troops are going to be on the ground and who we can rely on and where things will go. But that's a good sign. The the Trump administration with President Trump as the head of this border of peace has been their Gaza peace plan has been endorsed by the UN. China and Russia could have vetoed it. They abstained. So that was for certainly the Trump administration sees it as a great victory and Hamas is condemning it. Franchesca Albani who's basically the UN spokesperson for Hamas, she's condemning it. So that's a rare good news at the UN. Um and um you know otherwise at the UN there's very little good news. The good news I would say is in the region obviously that Israel in recent months in the past year has had miraculous victories. Israel militarily is one could say stronger than it ever has been before in the region of course around the world. Situation of Jews the reputation of Israel is at a historic low point since the Holocaust. >> What does a win look like? What does success look like when you go to work every day? when your organization is doing the outstanding wonderful work and let me thank you on behalf of all decent people everywhere who care. Thank you for your hard work and your selflessness. It can't be easy and we'll get into the sacrifice that you make for it. What is a win when you go to work every day? You're not going to turn the UN around. I mean those countries are those countries. So many of them are dictatorships, desperates. So many of them are places of evil and wickedness. The idea that you're going to reform them is unlikely. So what does a successful day look like for you at the UN? Yeah, look, it's it's a very good question because I remember when I would visit Washington, I would see my friends at Apac, those who are trying to defend the ability of Israel to defend itself and they're in Washington in in the good days. They could get great laws passed in the Congress and you could get the heads of Congress and the administration to do good things and you could have something you could really see as an accomplishment. At the UN, it's almost impossible to get something positive adopted where there's an automatic majority of China, Russia, and Cuba, and of course, 56 Islamic states. Uh it's it's almost impossible to get something positive. I mentioned the Security Council resolution as as an exception that really proves the rule. So for us, how do we define success when you know that the majority you don't have the majority? So in many cases, for us, it's exposing things so the world will know. The UN uses their uh false badge of legitimacy, their their reputation that they have as a credible international body representing morality and international law as a weapon against Israel. And if you can expose that so people know those standing behind the resolutions aren't, as some people think, the UN Human Rights Council. They imagine men with long white beards dressed in white robes strolling along Mount Olympus making their decisions based on facts, logic, and morality. when we know nothing could be further from the truth. When those sitting around the room aren't Aristotle, Plato or Socrates, but Gaddafi, Castro, and the House of Assad. If we can expose that, then in a way you delegitimize the delegitimizers. That's one way to win. >> And well, just one followup question. Is the goal of delegitimizing the delegitimizers to get the UN shut down? Is that a possibility? What good does the UN do? Is there some way to dissolve it? You know, people like us, amateur spectators to what's happening at the UN, wonder, why is the United States funding? Why are they in New York hosting? If the UN is this bastion and hotbed of of that which is the antithesis of what America stands for, why does it allocate so much money there? What we saw, interestingly, with bringing the hostages home and the coalition the president formed and that what was hosted in Egypt, it almost looked like it was happening outside of the UN, competing in parallel to the UN. Was there some window of possibility that let's stop funding it? Let's dissolve it. Let's end it. They do nothing good or let's not participate in it and de facto America as the great superpower create its own body of people that want to cooperate in a much more productive fashion. Is that even a realm of possibility? Look, it's a great question and I would say you could say it's more pertinent than ever before because you have an administration that is willing to do things that are unprecedented, willing to ask tough questions and willing to take positions that are not popular in Europe and around the world. I would say generally historically were the United States to create the League of Democracy. Senator McCain when he was running for president 2008 spoke about this, the League of Democracies. Today, were the United States to create that, who would join? France wouldn't join, Britain wouldn't join, Germany wouldn't join. They're fine at the UN. They're taken care of. Britain and France have the veto. No one's coming after them. They they're they have no problems there. So most countries in the world manage more or less at the UN. And certainly I'd say even the democracies, Canada wouldn't join, Australia wouldn't join this league of democracies. So the reality is that it'd be very hard to see practically in the world that we have today someone that would be willing to compete with the UN. Now whe whether the US would say you know what we hosted you for 80 years thank you very much there's a UN office in Kenya in Nairobi you can go there have the general assembly there let's see how many journalists cover it let's see how many diplomats and their entourage want to go shopping in Nairobi instead of going shopping in Manhattan for a few weeks every September those are options and and certainly you talk about real estate President Trump probably has ideas on what that prime real estate in Midtown Manhattan could be used for and I think it's a legitimate question I don't think the UN's going to go away because as I said All the member states are in are in it. America too for various reasons. Uh some cases needs the UN. There are technical agencies, intellectual property, telecommunications, some of the aid agencies like refugees when there are crisis around the world that there is pressure on the democracies to do something whether it's in Syria, Ukraine, Sudan, they want the UN refugee agency, the one that works, I'm not talking about ENRA, of course, the one that works more or less to take care of things. So, it's not clear the US would want to pull out of the UN, but whether it needs to be in the US, that's a good question. Now, you spoke about delegitimizing the delegitimizers. Who's your target audience? In other words, we're all in agreement. You don't have to convince us. You're going to come to our show. You're going to speak to our Shabas morning. You're going to have mostly a like-minded population. I think the struggle that so many people have when they talk about wanting to influence and impact is that social media puts you into echo chamber. So, Rabbi Go could post something on Facebook, but it's going to go to people who by and large agree with him. How do you make sure that what you're trying to do gets to the people that you actually want to influence and impact? That you're not just speaking into an echo chamber to people that agree with you, but that you're actually able to influence and impact by speaking to people who disagree with you. Well, that is a good question, but I do want to say that, you know, people often ask, I I would be speaking in a synagogue and people say, "You're preaching to the choir, right?" And well, you need to preach to the choir. You need to come every Shabbat uh or for Christians every Sunday. And people need to be educated again and inspired again because throughout the week they're hearing so many things that are that are contrary to what let's say Jewish values have to teach to what the Bible has to teach uh to what the truth is about Israel. So preaching to the choir is important shouldn't end there but it has to begin there. And we know let's say just talking about the conservative world we've seen how in recent months there's been a tremendous drop of support for Israel. So one could say you know 6 months ago a year ago why are you going on Fox News? Why are you going on a conservative media? They're already pro-Israel. Well guess what they're not. You can say, "Why are you speaking to Jewish people?" Well, guess what? There are Jewish people. Many apparently voted for Mamani who's not only anti-Israel, but an anti-semite. So, nothing is obvious. So, I think even when you're speaking to your base, if you're speaking to a large audience in the base, that's important. And it radiates. Every person radiates out. That's important. But I agree with you. It shouldn't end there. For us, you know, we speak at the United Nations. So, we're speaking really to the world. We are in the media about 900 times a year in broad major media. Our social media, yes, some of it is echo chamber. I would say Instagram, maybe Facebook, Twitter or not. Twitter, it it crosses over audiences and other people see things. Um, and you know, you have to get the message out. In the end, we don't have control over who sees it. Uh, it's true that normally it's going to be followers who are going to share things. Obviously, we do try to get on uh, you know, the BBC and so forth, which has become much harder in recent years. No question. >> Is there a strategy? Do you have any consultants who tell you unfortunately in today's day and age the more provocative the more outlandish outrageous the more attention you get and the goal here is to um the goal here is to is to delegitimize the delegitimizers. So is there a technique or a strategy to of course not say anything that would lose your dignity but to say things in such a provocative way the media can't help but cover it and therefore it helps get the message out and expose the very people that you're trying to expose. I don't think we've we've gotten that advice uh yet. It's true that our the nature of our work is sensational because well I'm at the UN. We're sitting there at the human rights council is China, Cuba, Qatar, Pakistan. You know, Gaddafi's representative had been the chair of the human rights commission two decades ago. So almost by nature it's it's sensational and crazy and an upside down world. So we kind of have good material to work with to to begin with. And when we come in there, there's clashes because I speak basic truths and the dictatorships, the anti-Israel countries, terrorists apologists attack me and interrupt me. So there is in the in even when we are being completely moderate uh and and restrained by definition, our work has a clash element to it. Um, but I would say, you know, coming back to delegitimize the delegitimizers, one one uh story that I can share, which is, you know, the most anti-Israel figure at the UN, this woman named Francesca Albanesei. So, she was chosen specifically three and a half years ago because she had a record of Holocaust inversion. That's why they chose her. Her expertise was Holocaust inversion for a decade since she was a public person. She had worked for UNRA for a couple of years as a legal person. She's not a lawyer. She never wrote the bar, but she was doing something for UNRA of illegal nature and then she became public in 2014 where she said America is subjugated by the Jewish lobby. She wrote this in 2014. America is subjugated by the Jewish lobby. And for a decade she was saying the Palestinians are treated the way the Jews are treated by the Nazis and that's why they chose her. So this was a person who's named UN reperator on Palestine, which means the UN expert on Palestine. And she's used her position in the past three and a half years to bully other UN officials to sign statements accusing Israel of genocide. She is one of the leaders at the UN in the blood label of our time which is accusing Israel and the Jewish people of committing genocide which achieves two things. It it condemns Israel and the Jewish people by definition of committing the crime of crimes. And so if you if you see a Jew who might be supportive of Israel, you're so whipped up because they're committing this horrible crime, then anything is justified. That's number one. And number two is it erases the taboo of anti-semitism for some 80 years after the Holocaust. Anti-semitism was wrong because of the genocide against the Jews. Now they're doing genocide. Then we can sort of erase the taboo. Why should we feel guilty about them? They doing the same thing. She is the leading proponent I would say in the world because of her UN position on the genocide blood label. We managed to get her sanctioned. First time in UN in the history of America and the United and the United Nations that a US government sanctioned a UN official. On July 9th, Secretary Rubio designated her for sanctions. She cannot visit America. Cannot lecture anymore in Barnard, Princeton, Georgetown, as she did last year. Can't even present a report at the UN General Assembly in New York. And can't use any credit cards. She was said she was in Napoli and tried to rent a car. Couldn't rent a car. Can't buy a coffee. And that sent a big message of deterrence to other UN people and so that the whole world saw that this person claiming to be a human rights figure but who was a wolf in sheep's clothing is indeed a terrorism supporter declared by the US. So one example where a delegitimizer was herself delegitimized. >> Now I would imagine the work is exhausting. You know I I read the news about the UN and it's exhausting to me because it feels like you're hitting your head against a wall and things that are so obvious to us seem so not obvious to the rest of the world. How do you keep a positive outlook? Even just hearing you speak, you speak with such energy and excitement and passion after doing this for so many years. How do you not get deterred and saddened by the state of affairs and the rising anti-semitism and as you said things that 20 years ago would have been completely taboo and can never have been spoken about and now all of a sudden it's mainstream. How do you not get exhausted by going to work every day against people who hate you and people who spread lies against you and to stay the course and the mission despite all that? Well, one thing we try to do is keep a sense of humor. Um, you know, that's I would say Instagram is good for that. You can sometimes do things that are a little funny and you have to otherwise you lose your mind. As you say, we're in a place that is so horrible, people supporting terrorism, an Orwellian world. So try to keep a bit of a sense of humor sometimes. That helps. And um otherwise I would say the energy comes from certainly we have though the UN majority is always against us. We do have millions around the world who support us, who watch our videos on YouTube and other social media. We know often we're the first or only ones exposing these things. If it's an issue that others are working on, Palestinian state recognition, you didn't need UN watch for that. Others were on that. But things like a UN reporator, no one know who's that. No, no one knows who they are, where they come from, how they're appointed, what why it matters, what their reports are, where to find these things. And UN watch does. So I know that often when we're exposing things, we're the only ones in the world and we know that it matters. So, I would say knowing that it matters, knowing that we do have a lot of support in the world, knowing that we can have accomplishments like getting this person delegitimized, like getting UNRA defunded by $460 million, the US, Sweden, the Netherlands, defunding UNRA, an agency which is a war makingaking agency. Those kinds of wins, uh, though they may not be the big win, but there are wins give us wind in our sales. Tell us, take us behind the beam of Hill. Nice Jewish boy from Montreal, international lawyer, author, could have a career in any other area. Why in the world would you want to be in that hotbed? How did that happen? What was it in your upbringing, your childhood? Take us a little bit through your background, if you if you will, of of how you find yourself where you do now. >> Sure. Okay. Well, you know, I don't have the particular answer of what got me there, but I'll share with you several elements. Uh, you know, I always liked law. My father is a lawyer. He's now retired. But uh but I grew up having an admiration for the law. And Israel, I came from a family that's very Zionist, very committed to Israel, several generations. And uh and I got the Israel bug from a young age and and visited Israel when I was 14 and was sort of consuming every book that I could find about Israel's history and politics and so forth. And came from a family that was intellectually interested at our Shabbat table. There would be a discussion. invariably we would go to the encyclopedia of Judea and bring it to the Shabbat table and then start reading that and have discussions. So I think that the family that I came from was extremely important. Uh had a Jewish education, a Jewish day school education at Hebrew Academy in Montreal. And so I grew up in a very I would say Jewishly uh rich environment intellectually. uh our school was very devoted to am Israel to the Jewish community to to Israel erit Israel and uh that's my background and I and I like politics so law politics Israel were things that fascinated me and I gravitated towards that I studied political science I went to law school I had a professor named professor Irwin Cutotler one of the great defenders of the Jewish people and human rights defenders in the world today was Canada's attorney general um and was a lawyer for Natan Sharansky and for other dissident around the world and a great fighter against anti-semitism. So he was certainly a a role model for me when I was at law school and otherwise in Canada and so I kind of moved in that direction. I went to law school still thought maybe I would do private law but already I think when when I was in law school I said you know doing something like professor Cutotler doing something interesting was what I wanted and and I practiced for a couple of years in New York and then UN watch was handed to me in the sense that a friend of mine who had interned there at a friend of mine at the at the law firm in New York said Hill remember I worked at this place called UN watch they need a director uh it would be perfect for you and I said yeah it would international law and fighting anti-semitism and defending Israel Well, but Geneva, Europe, I had never lived there. I had lived in Israel. I'd lived in New York, Canada. Geneva was sort of uh was was an odd thing, but I took the adventure and I've been there now for 20 years. >> And for those who don't know, Geneva is because is that where the UN is headquartered? Why >> the UN human rights system is based in Geneva? And our group, many people, if they know the work of UN and watch, they know speeches that either I gave or people we brought the son of Hamas or uh Lui Ahmed from Yemen, speeches that have gone viral, been seen millions of times. That can only be done in Geneva. In New York, an ambassador speaks. That's it. No one else. That's the norm at the UN. In Geneva, there's an anomaly where non-governmental organizations can speak. And we've used that to our advantage for the past, I would say, nearly two decades. Well, let's let's go further into the UN because I think a lot of people understand there's like conglomerate called the UN where bad things happen and where they hate Israel. You're behind the scenes. What are some things that would surprise people about the behindthe-scenes workings of the UN? Um certain experiences you've had. I would imagine there are a lot of people there that don't like you. Um have you ever felt physically in fear because of the work that you do there? Have you ever been accosted? Because give us a little bit of behind the scenes of what takes place that the average person watching a viral clip wouldn't be privy to. >> Yeah. Well, look, uh, I would say in the UN generally the the people there are diplomats, the ambassadors. There are NGO activists. Some of them are, um, not playing by diplomatic rules. You know, usually at the UN things are peaceful. There there were times when some activists, even some diplomats would get, uh, somewhat aggressive. Uh but thankfully no nothing significant to report there. I'll share with you a story. It's not about Israel, but we once brought a Chinese activist because UN watch doesn't only speak out against anti-semitism and anti-Israel discrimination. We also bring human rights victims who fight dictatorships. Bring them to speak at the UN. It's not just about what the UN shouldn't be doing, it's what the UN should be doing. They should be speaking out for Sudan, victims in China, 1 million wigger Muslims thrown into camps, victims in Cuba, people who speak out for democracy thrown into prison. So we bring these victims. We brought a Chinese uh young woman who her father um Wang Bing Jang was the Chinese democracy pioneer and we brought his daughter uh Tiana Wong and she spoke young woman who was at law school in Canada and she spoke and while she was speaking there was a guy behind her uh Chinese who's an NGO activist apparently supposedly has an NGO badge non-government organization but seems to be spying on her taking pictures of her taking pictures of her computer and actually UN security this is about 10 years ago ago uh stopped him and took his iPad that he had and saw that he had been taking pictures of her and uh was basically spying on her and he claimed to be from the Tibetan I don't remember the exact name but Tibet Tibetan uh foundation for human rights and justice something like that and was a Chinese front group there are many of these people don't understand that the UN there's NOS's some of them are real and others are front groups created by the Cuban regime the Syrian regime the Chinese regime and this guy was basically a Chinese agent who was spying on our dissident trying to intimidate her, spy on her and uh just share a story which is the when when we did a press release about this the New York Times correspondent at the time DD Tatlo in Beijing went found the address of this so-called Tibetan NGO and she knocks on the door and it turns out it's like the Chinese Pentagon. Okay. A guy comes a few minutes later wearing sunglasses and he says, "Yes, can I help?" She goes, "Yes, is this the Tibetan Foundation for Development and Justice?" He says, "Yes, can I help you?" And um and that's that's how absurd it because they had sent about half a dozen uh regime agents to spy and intimidate dissident. So there is that happening that dictatorships send um their agents, sometimes diplomats, sometimes fake NGO people to intimidate and spy on people. These are some of the things happening behind the corridors. >> Anything still surprise you? And is there a day where you say, "I thought I saw it all and then this thing happened." >> Sadly, yes. >> Whether it's in the UN or even more virally on media today, I think there was a isn't there a clip on Pierce. There was a woman he hosted who couldn't remember your claimed that she couldn't remember exactly your name, the spelling of your name. >> Right. Right. Yes. That's this this lady we spoke about, Franchesca Albenezy, who who uh who's been condemned the first UN expert not only to be sanctioned by the US, but to be condemned for anti-semitism by France, Germany, Canada, the Netherlands called to remove her. She was asked on Piers Morgan. He quoted something that I had said. He said, "Well, you know, I want to read something by Hill Neuer from you and watch. Do do you know by the way Hilly who that is?" And she said, "Who?" >> Right. who um she knows who I am. When she when she appears, I speak right in front of her. So that was amusing. Um but no, sadly there are things that surprise us. You know, I would say Guter surprised us. We knew the UN was anti-Israel, but we didn't know to what depth. Let's recall that barely two to three weeks after October 7th, he came to the UN and he said, "Yes, I condemn the attacks of October 7th. But uh it must also be said that the attacks of Hamas did not take place in a vacuum because there were grievances in the occupation effectively justifying October 7th. Things sadly can still surprise me." >> You mentioned October 7th. How has your experience changed pre-occtober 7th to post October 7th? has I mean obviously we see a rise in anti-semitism and anti-Israel uh rhetoric. What do you see and how have your experiences been different from before October 7th where I know there was a lot of anti-semitism there already versus post it? >> Well I I would say you know it's a bit of the same but on steroids. A lot of what's happened in in since October 7th the assault on Israel the blood labels were happening at various levels. the whole ecosystem of NOS's, the UN, taking Hamas propaganda, uh, laundering it through the UN and then having media uh, propagated throughout the world, using it to whip up hate and violence against Jewish people around the world. Had happened before. It happened to some degree in the war in 2014. It happened here and there, but now it was all on steroids and and the UN, it just the the level the level that it achieved uh, was something uh, we couldn't imagine. You know, the the the non-stop uh devotion to the anti-Israel narrative suppressing anything counterveiling. Let's recall 10 days after October 7th, the infamous Ali hospital lie. New York Times, Israel bombs hospital, kills 500 people. Everything was a lie. Israel didn't bomb a hospital. It was the jihad, a misfired rocket. Didn't hit the hospital, hit the parking lot. Didn't kill 500. Maybe it killed 10. The moment it wasn't Israel, no one cared. No one No one no one started. No one was bothering to count anymore. But that lie, New York Times front page, front page all around the world. Um, this was, you know, it was the UN, but let's be honest, sadly, you know, this is important actually because, and I'll mention this weekend, we're marking 50 years since the Zionism is racism resolution 1975. So, some things aren't new. We had that Soviets, the Arab states since 1975. What is new is that at the time, US ambassador Patrick Muahan said, you know, all the leading church groups and the union groups are all condemning this anti-semitism. That was in 1975. Things that happened at the UN building were otherwise condemned by larger civil society institutions. The Congress, I think everyone but one congressman condemned it. And today, sadly, whether it's the Congress, whether it's church groups, whether it's unions, you know, sadly, the surrounding society is is becoming much closer to the lies of the UN than we had 50 years ago. >> You mentioned your father as a source of inspiration um as a lawyer, a retired lawyer. Who else do you see yourself modeling after? Are there people that you call for guidance, advice, diplomacy, how to navigate, which fight to take up, which hill not to die on? How do you how do you find the mentorship and the and the motivation? >> Well, at at this stage, I I don't usually uh don't usually call on people. Uh perhaps I should, but >> what if you look back as you were coming up as you were building your career? as I look back. Well, certainly I want to give thanks to our chair um who's uh who recently turned 96, Ambassador Alfred Moses, who's a great man, was the chair of UN watch for over two decades and uh is a very wise man, very devoted to the Jewish people and devoted to uh to being a mench and and and uh and democracy and human rights. So he he was he was sort of my uh north star on many things could always give the wise and the right uh answer on things and he was our chair for 20 years. Uh so Alfred Moses certainly and I would say uh you know people that I look to uh some some people that I that I look to certainly Aba Iban who was one of the brilliant minds of the 20th century had he stayed in in England you know he he he was in World War II and British military intelligence and then joined the Zionist cause and became Israel's young first ambassador to the UN in 1948 and eventually Israeli foreign minister and other things. But had he stayed in the UK, he was a he was a superstar in the UK where at Cambridge he was a triple first which I think had never been accomplished before and uh would have been perhaps one of the great cabinet ministers, parliamentarians, uh academics. He was a genius. He could speak 10 languages. So he was the voice of Israel for many decades and and it wasn't just his voice, it was his genius. So certainly his writings and his thought were a source of inspiration for me. No question about it. Um, and someone I like to read, people don't know him as well, but they ought to, is someone who died young named Yakov Herzog, who was also a brilliant ambassador of Israel. He famously debated uh British um academic historian Arnold Twinby. 1961, Yakov Herzog, who's the son of the the the chief rabbi Isaac Levy Herzog, the first chief rabbi of Israel. He was his son and he was US he was Israeli ambassador in Canada in 1961 when the great British historian Toinby spoke at McGill University in Montreal and had said two great lies. One is that the Jewish people are a fossil. They ceased to exist 2000 years ago. They still see something but it's a fossil. Number two, he said what the Israelis did in 1948 was like what the Nazis had done. Both of these lies were reported in the newspapers. And Ambassador Herzog did what few ambassadors today could do. He challenged one of the great historians of the time to a debate and a historic debate was held at the Montreal Hill House of McGill in 1961. I believe it was January. The recording can be heard on the internet and it's it's a disputation not unlike that of Nahanades the Ramban with Pablo Christiani. It's a historic debate where where ambassador Herzog bests tobby and he was a brilliant mind who was also alitam. who was he he knew a tremendous man of Torah and it is said that he had the choice in the early 60s to either be the chief rabbi of the British Empire or to be the head of the prime minister's office and he chose to stay in politics but he has a book called a people that dwells alone and it's a brilliant book of his essays and speeches and he combines his uh thoughts on the mystical element of Judaism um and um and diplomacy and uh anyone who's interested in politics Israel and Judaism uh might want to read a people that dwells on >> Well, you mentioned a book. I'm going to ask you if for your top three book recommendations, you're talking to a population that some are more literate, some are less literate. What do you think are the two the three let's do three three most important books to understand the current political situation for Israelis, for Jews, for Israel? >> Well, I I uh I it's hard to pick uh three, but I'll just mention some that are less wellknown. I mentioned now a people that dwells alone certainly for people who care about uh interested in Judaism and diplomacy. That's a great book. There's a great book by um Arthur Kesler on his experiences visiting Israel during the 48 war. It's a brilliant book. Um I think it's called Promise and Fulfillment. Uh it's about the British mandate. Um and it's just a fascinating book. Gives a a glimpse of of who the British mandate authorities were, what who the Israelis were. It's a fascinating uh book. And I would say the um the uh the books of Aba Iban. Um I'm trying to remember. He has uh kind of an autobiography, but I don't remember what the what the title is, but there's a few books by Aba Iban. Those are the three that I would recommend. >> What does Helen do to relax? This intense job, this job in which it it's hard to it's almost like you're spitting into the wind, right? All the work that you do when there are accomplishments. And again, we express gratitude and and encouragement. I don't mean to minimize in any way, but it can be frustrating, I'm sure, at the end of a day. What do you do to relax? >> Yeah, look, uh, getting together with friends, uh, and having a laugh, watching something funny, enjoying, uh, enjoying, uh, something some some comedy um, is is good. Uh, today I managed, uh, on my way here to spend a little bit of time walking on the beach in Miami. It was magnificent. So, when you get a bit of time for that, uh, that's always nice. >> How's life in Geneva? >> Geneva is fine. It's a it's a good quality of life. Um, some people, my Canadian friends asked me, "What's Geneva like?" I said, "It's kind of like Ottawa, only not as exciting." >> So, Geneva is a small town. It's it's a comp it's a boring place, but it's in a beautiful surroundings. If you take advantage, you can go to beautiful mountains and different places. So, Geneva is a good quality of life. There's often this sharp contrast where I'd be sitting in a debate where the most awful terrorist supporting regimes are speaking and I walk out and you have these magnificent vistas of the Mlong in all its majesty and the the contrast is like startling. >> Are people more punctual there? Is everyone on time >> in Zurich? >> Zurich. >> In Zurich, you know, Switzerland has different different kinds of uh populations in the German part in Zurich. If you call an event for 5:45 p.m., they're all there. >> They're all there. >> They're there. They're waiting for you. >> But Geneva, not so much. >> A bit less. A bit less. a bit less. When BB Netanyahu was going to be the Israeli ambassador to the UN, I'm sure you know the story. He went to Libaba Rebba for a blessing and the Reb told him that in a dark room, in a huge auditorium of darkness, if you light a small candle, you could dispel a lot of darkness. And he gave him the blessing. You're going to the hall of darkness. Be and spread a little bit of light. Lighting a small candle could dispel the darkness. So there's no question you dispel enormous darkness with your work. We're grateful for it. We wish you continued success with it. And please God, we hope that you're su so successful that the UN moves in fact to Nairobi or wherever you suggested it go. You not need to follow and you can turn your attention to other >> things which I did before. >> Thank you for being with us here in Boca Raton and thank you for being with us behind the beimma. >> Thank you Rabbi. It's great to be here. >> Thank you for listening to Behind the Beimma. If you enjoyed the show, please subscribe, [music] rate, and review on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. We'll see you next week for [music] another peak behind the beimma.